November global temps dip, Earth still nears heat record

The Earth is still on track for a record-breaking year for heat even though the average global temperature last month dipped to the seventh warmest since 1880, US government scientists said Monday.

The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces in November 2014 tied with 2008 as the seventh warmest for the month since record keeping began, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Still, the combined average for the entire year so far, from January to November, was "the warmest such period on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010," NOAA said in its monthly report.